CAREER

Heed the Hebrew

By Dan Miller 48days.com

CBN.com –
Five months of this year are now history. Have you accomplished 42 percent of your goals for this year? Are you ahead of schedule? Congratulations! If you are a little behind, what can you do to realign or catch up? Goals are not meant to beat us up but just to give us a clear direction to shoot for.
As I am now totally spoiled by having a GPS in my car, I often wonder what it would be like to have a GPS for my life. What if I could just set the ultimate goal – and then that little gizmo would tell me every correct turn.

Success of any kind is not an automated GPS process. Growing older does not necessarily make you wiser or more successful; some people just get old.

If you are going to be successful, it will be the result of clear intention. The secret of your success is not determined by nature or nurture but by your daily activities. Each day you are either making deposits in or withdrawals from your success possibilities. Nature may account for 10 percent of your success and nurture another 10 percent. But 80 percent of your success will be determined by your daily decisions – from today forward. You are your own GPS – rise to the challenge and enjoy the process!

"Most successful men have not achieved their distinction by having some new talent or opportunity presented to them. They have developed the opportunity that was at hand." —Bruce Barton

Drunk or Just Employed?

Last week my Wednesday morning Eagles group was privileged to have Rabbi Daniel Lapin sit in as our guest. Dave Ramsey had invited him to speak to his entire company that morning and our little group of thinkers was honored to dialogue with him for a couple of hours in advance. Joanne was awed as she joined me in hearing the Rabbi's presentation to Dave's group.

As a Hebrew scholar, Rabbi Lapin shares some very intriguing insights about that language. Here’s one of his many examples:

When Noah planted a vineyard, drank of its wine, and became drunk, the Hebrew word used in Genesis 9:21 to describe his inebriated condition is SHiCHuR. But when someone hires someone as an hourly employee, as in Exodus 22:14, the person is a SaCHiR. In Hebrew the words look exactly the same.

= SHiCHuR = Drunk

= SaCHiR = Hired Employee

What could drunkenness possibly have to do with being a hired worker? Ancient Jewish wisdom’s response to that question is that neither a drunk nor an hourly laborer is able to act according to his own wishes and choices. It is easy for us to see that a drunk has no ability to control his actions. What about a hired worker? After all, almost all of us need to work; and what is more, we are actually obligated to do so, since the day that God put Adam in the Garden of Eden to work it.

But the word SaCHiR is specifically reserved for an hourly or day laborer. That type of hired employee yields much control to his employer. Generally, a SaCHiR earns less and has fewer benefits than a longer term employee. He is usually at the bottom of the totem pole with little job security and often lives paycheck to paycheck. So, while for different reasons than the drunk, the SaCHiR also has limited options and control over his life.

This contrasts with someone who works for a pre-negotiated salary or commission or has their own business. That person has some freedom in managing his/her time more independently.

I know this may sound a little harsh for the many of you who are employees. This is not meant to belittle that status but to just help you see it in perspective. I have been encouraging everyone to be aware of the changing work models that I describe in No More Mondays.

We are rapidly moving toward the time when only 50 percent of the American workforce will be employees. You may be a free-lancer, a consultant, a contingency worker, an independent contractor, an entrepreneur, an electronic immigrant, a temp, or a number of other growing terms. All are reasonable terms for the creative, non-traditional work models that are allowing 465,000 new business startups each month in the United States alone.

Your Days

At Brighthouse, an Atlanta-based innovation consulting firm, staff members get five week’s vacation AND five Your Days. The five Your Days are free days that the staff are encouraged to use to visit someplace conducive to reflection and thinking. No particular goal to solve anything – just what they call “blue-sky thinking.” CEO Joey Reiman believes this unstructured thinking is just as important to their success as time spent hunkered down in client meetings or looking at computer screens.

Other companies like Maddock Douglas and Google also encourage their workers to spend up to 20 percent of their work hours pursuing whatever intrigues them.

Here’s a favorite book of mine that addresses this issue – How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day. Few people have ever been as creative or inventive as da Vinci. But he was also a thoughtful philosopher. Leonardo reflected sadly that the average human “looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling, eats without tasting, moves without physical awareness, inhales without awareness of odour or fragrance, and talks without thinking.” In his writings he constantly calls us to improve our senses – and our sensibility and sensitivity.

I hear repeatedly from people who are asking, “What is the meaning of life?” Leonardo da Vinci would encourage them to ask, “How can I make my life meaningful?”

Make sure you are spending time thinking – and making your life meaningful.

48 Days Radio

Each week I create a new online radio podcast—that you can hear in iTunes or at the 48 Days Online Radio Show link below.

I start this podcast by addressing the issue of doing work you love AND making significant money at the same time. I believe you can expect to work with passion, putting in fewer hours, and getting more income.

And here are a few of the great questions:

1. I have been saying for years that I want to be a full-time freelance graphic designer. My fear is the lack of a steady income and lack of health insurance. I feel as though I could feel stuck or trapped working at my job to make ends meet. I commute 80 miles round trip four days a week. I would love to have the freedom to work from home!

2. I'm a Baptist minister and at this point have little "extra" time. I want very much to have more time with my wife, more income, and more time for rest. I'm extremely tired, not in the best of health, and stressed out, maybe burned out. Are you able to help me?

3. How can I continue to stay in ministry and have a business of my own?

4. My family's business is closing up in July or sooner. I am concerned most about what I do next. I would love to work from home, but I am afraid of getting stuck with something that ends up costing more money than it can make for me.

5. My biggest obstacle is my family. To them, unless you have a "real" job, you are bound to be destitute. I just don't think I can stand the illness and strife that my "real" job is causing any more. As a single mom with two elementary aged children, how do I make the leap into self-employment with not only no support but ridicule as well?

6. Should I leave the current job I have, even with the economy the way it is? Can I afford not to?

If you have a question, just click on this 48 Days Online Radio link and you can ask about starting your own business, getting a better job, or finding your purpose in life.

48 Days Recommends

The Barefoot Executive™
Carrie Wilkerson is the voice of experience. From corporate life to teaching high school to direct sales, she has 'been there and done that' professionally and personally. An 'overnight mom' to two toddlers through adoption, her priorities instantly changed and so did her workplace. She's now built several businesses and coached others to do the same while overcoming extreme debt, losing 110 pounds, and having two more children, for a total of four, ages infant through 12!

As "The Barefoot Executive,” Carrie and her network of experts have quickly become the definitive resource for helping women achieve extra income and career goals while working from home. For free audio and written transcript of Carrie's live presentation "What is Your Why?" Get the free motivational audio now!

Chuck Bowen Coaching -Financial, Career & Business
Need to do better (maybe a lot better?) with your personal finances? Is your business as profitable or enjoyable as you'd like it to be? Seeking your calling in your career? Contact Chuck Bowen Coaching. If you want to transform your life permanently for the better, he's your guy. Dave Ramsey trusts Chuck to train his financial coaches, and he serves as president of Dan Miller’s 212 Connection. What better proof is there? Contact Chuck Bowen Coaching now!

More Recommended Resources

Need to find your music?
The most popular product in the 48 Days arsenal continues to be the Computerized Personality Report. Before you begin seeking a better job or self-employment, you need to be sure you are pursuing opportunities that match your personality style and will fulfill and reward you for a lifetime!

Dan Miller is the bestselling author of 48 Days To The Work You Love and a renowned Life Coach specializing in career fulfillment. His weekly newsletter reaches 70,000 subscribers. Dan’s articles are featured here at CBN every Tuesday, and you can find out more about Dan at www.48days.com.